TV's Top 50 Showrunners 2010

Sutter admits there are challenges when your lead female character is also your wife. "I wrote the role for Katey [Sagal] and it's been gratifying to see her bring that character to life," he says. "But it ultimately consumes both of us and it's been impossible to have boundaries between our personal life and work life." Still, he's learning the ropes as FX's highest-rated show kicks off its third season. "Creatively, I'm a guy who likes to lock myself in my room and write and create. I've had to learn that as a showrunner, you just can't do that."

Favorite TV Moment: "Watching shows like 'Hill Street Blues' and 'Law & Order,' I realized this was a different kind of television. I couldn't understand at the time that it was better writing, more realistic acting and this documentary style -- but it had a deep and profound impact on me, and shifted how I was able to watch television."

Big Break: "I was coming off of 'The Shield' and for creative and career reasons needed to make 'Sons' work; (FX's) John Landgraf wanted to make his mark with the network. It was definitely a trial by fire, and I had to learn a lot very quickly, but the network trusted me to pull it off."